Transit cops warning riders not to carry replica guns

Transit Police have been busy with firearms calls on SkyTrain that turn out to be BB guns that look like the real deal.

“Replica firearms should NOT be carried on the transit system,” Transit Police spokeswoman Anne Drennan said. “All reports involving a firearm require a police response that can put the public, the police and the suspect in danger and create fear and panic in public places. Unnecessary tragedies can occur all too easily.”

There were two cases this week, on Monday and Tuesday.

“Replica fireams are often incredibly realistic in appearance and, when displayed or possessed on the transit system, it is human nature for people to react as if it was a real weapon,” Drennan said.

In the most recent case, police responding to a complaint about a rider cleaning a gun on SkyTrain stopped an 18-year-old man at Scott Road Station, with a black .177-calibre BB C02 pistol than could have easily been mistaken for the real thing.

The previous day, a 41-year-old man was taken into custody at Moody Centre Station after Metro Vancouver Transit Police got a text message from a passenger saying a man dropped a gun on the floor of a train on the Evergreen extention. It turned out to be a black Crossman C11 BB gun.